Video: The hilarious moment when James Forrest tells Celtic new Bhoy what he's won

By Euan Davidson

January 18, 2022

Reo Hatate has already impressed his Celtic supporters and teammates, especially after winning Man of the Match last night.

But a hilarious clip from the game has revealed that he couldn’t understand why the tannoy had read out his name with a minute or two left to play.

Hatate, who shone on his debut, was absolutely excellent against Hibernian last night. He ended the game with a ridiculous 3 key passes, recovered the ball 5 times and midfield and found holes in the Hibs defence with a fantastic range of passes [Fotmob].

It was enough for him to win Man of the Match, of course. But a video from Twitter user and Celtic fan BrenCelt has shown he absolutely wasn’t expecting such an accolade.

Have some confidence, Reo! You were outstanding!

Here’s the moment in question:

In fairness, with Daizen Maeda and Josip Juranovic scoring, perhaps Hatate just didn’t expect to win Man of the Match. That, and it being his debut. But he was well worth the shout, with Celtic supporters and in-house pundits, John Collins and John Hartson, left amazed.

The BBC’s Michael Stewart was also dazzled, unable to believe how little Celtic had paid for Hatate. Quite a night’s work for the Japanese midfielder, all things considered.

A double title-winner with Kawaski Frontale, we knew Reo Hatate would have quality. Last night, though, he really put on a show for the Celtic supporters.

Hatate left stunned as Celtic teammate James Forrest clears up confusion

It’s a really nice moment, isn’t it?

James Forrest, ever the excellent team-mate, looked delighted himself to tell Hatate what had happened. And he didn’t take a small amount of joy from it, either, laughing as the new Celtic midfielder realised the enormity of his performance.

What a way to ingratiate yourself to your new teammates. Attitude, good training, being sociable; all these things count. Doing your talking on the pitch, though? It’s cliché, sure, but it’s absolutely priceless. Especially when you’re in a new squad half-way round the world.

We need to be careful not to get into hyperbole territory, and insist that Hatate can do this every game. However, if this is a guy’s debut, and he’s Man of the Match? The quality is very obviously there, and while there was mystery about his position for a considerable time, we now know what he’s great at.

Namely, passing the ball, finding spaces and putting teammates in good positions.

A fine debut, absolutely no doubt.

And to add to it, he’s got his first viral moment as a Celtic player; at least on Hoops Twitter anyway!

Read more: “Incredible players”; Goalscorer Juranovic beams about squad depth after important Celtic win